For Freedom And Fairness

Newsline 17 November 2017

Over the next two weeks, secularists have a chance to dent religion's privileged position in England's schools. The Commission on Religious Education is consulting on its interim report until 9:00am on 4th December. In his blog below our campaigns director explains what we will be recommending. We believe children should be raised to treat religious ideas like any other. If you agree with us, please make your voice heard by contributing to the consultation.

A new civil service post may be intended to promote 'inclusion'. But insistently bringing religion into the workplace will promote it and encourage an assertive form of selfishness at public expense, says Chris Sloggett.

NSS writes elsewhere

After the row over Greggs's advert which placed a sausage roll in the nativity scene, it is alarming that a minority of Christians seem to want to ape Islamic fundamentalists and demand the kind of 'respect' for their religion that Islam enjoys.

Quote of the week

"Perhaps for some equality is experienced as a loss, a taken-for-granted traditional experience of privilege that is now threatened."Councillor John Barry, who proposed a motion to replace council prayers in Ards and North Down in Northern Ireland, reflects on the motion being defeated

"Whenever I hear some bigmouth in Washington or the Christian heartland banging on about the evils of sodomy or whatever, I mentally enter his name in my notebook and contentedly set my watch. Sooner rather than later, he will be discovered down on his weary and well-worn old knees in some dreary motel or latrine, with an expired Visa card, having tried to pay well over the odds to be peed upon by some Apache transvestite."The late Christopher Hitchens predicts the Roy Moore scandal from beyond the grave, in an extract shared by his friend Nick Cohen this week

Essays of the week

The polls are in and Australians have signalled their strong support for same-sex marriage. But it is increasingly clear that conservatives arguing for 'protections' want to significantly extend the capacity of religious organisations and individuals to discriminate against others.

The Runnymede Trust has published a new report on 'Islamophobia'. This term frames anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry in a way that compounds, rather than alleviates, the problems facing Muslims. Tackling bigotry against Muslims requires us to remake the framework within which Islam, and Muslims, are viewed from both sides of the debate.

If we fail to tackle extremism when we encounter it, then we fail our children and their communities, writes the CEO of a large multi-academy trust.

NSS speaks out

Our executive director Keith Porteous Wood discussed the row over Greggs depicting a sausage roll in the nativity scene on LBC, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Three Counties Radio. You can listen to him on the JVS Show, on Three Counties (he is introduced after 49:15).

BBC Scotland quoted our reaction to the harassment of Leona Rawlinson by Sabbatarians in the Western Isles. Several other media outlets also picked up the story after we highlighted it. And we were quoted in LADBible's story about Buckfast, which has been linked to over 40% of arrests in Scotland.

Annual Report 2017

As our President Terry Sanderson steps down, this report makes clear the difference the NSS can make - and why our work is increasingly important. Whether you care most about faith-based education, free speech, abortion rights or equality laws, we're championing the secularist cause.

Annual General Meeting

Along with the Report, members received details of our AGM, which will be held on Saturday 25 November 2017 Registration will start at 13.00, details are on the website and the meeting is open to paid-up members and affiliated group representatives only.

Click the link if you'd rather read Newsline as a PDF.

Support our work

Please support our work so we can make the case for a fairer secular democracy for all.